Mulberries: Nutrients, Health Advantages, Weight-loss and Cooking

Updated on October 3, 2014

‘Here we go round the mulberry bush,
the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, here we go round the mulberry
bush, on a cold and fro-o-osty morning…’ This is a very old
children’s song that you may still hear in any playground, chanted
and sung to. Children’s nursery rhymes aside, though, what exactly
is the mulberry, whether plant or fruit? What is its history, its
geographical incidence?

A member of the Moraceae family and the
Morus genus, the mulberry fruit and mulberry bush comes in three
varieties: white, red and black. The black mulberry is the edible, or
at least commonly eaten by humans, version, whilst the red may also
be used for animal feed due to its impressive protein content and the
white has often historically been used for feeding silkworms.

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In appearance the mulberry is either
red, black or white, a pendulous fruit with the appearance of an
elongated berry. In culinary terms, it is often used in pies and jams
and wines. Grown on several continents, it is commonly available
frozen or canned and may be hard to locate as the fresh fruit.
Interestingly, it has a major role to play in cosmetics as a
skin-lightening aid, although different varieties have different
properties in this respect.[2]

As far as the culinary aspect goes, the
mulberry has traditionally been used for pies, juices, jellies, wines
and jams. You might want to try Marian Kleinsasser Towne's suggestion
of fruity jam bars with mulberries: it sounds awesome![5] What is
the availability of mulberries like? They are sometimes hard to
locate as the fresh fruit.

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For humans, what does the mulberry have
to offer in nutritional terms? It has one gram of fat content per one
hundred and forty gram serving, two grams of fiber per 140 gram
portion and has useful quantities of Vitamin C, iron and Vitamin K to
offer.[4] Other phytonutrient aspects include the bioflavonoid
content which has been found to be highest in black mulberries.[3] Of
course mulberries could make a useful contribution towards your
target of five or ten (or whatever) fruits and vegetables a day –
just like any other fruit or vegetable! Any fruits or vegetables you
have a fondness for are worth remembering when you’re trying to up
the vegetable and fruit content of your diet.

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